Beneficiaries of the Social Relief of Distress grant receive R350 every month to take care of their needs, however the Congress of South African Trade Unions has called for the government to increase this grant to the food poverty line.
The R350 Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant was introduced in 2020 to financially assist unemployed individuals during the Covid-19 pandemic. The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) currently distributes the R350 grant to seven million people across the country.
President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced that the government will be extending the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant beyond 2024.
This was welcomed by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), who said they were pleased with the extension of the grant but they have now called on the government to increase the SRD grant to the food poverty line.
This would mean that the SRD grant would have to increase from R350 to R624 which is the food poverty line per person per month.
It is said that if the SRD grant is increased to R624 then more people would be able to apply and qualify to receive financial support.
President Ramaphosa has previously stated that he was aware that the R350 may not be enough but the government could not afford to increase the SRD grant.
“We know that to most of you, the money is not enough and that people want the money to be increased but the government does not have enough money for that but we will continue with the grant, even in the coming year,” said Ramaphosa.
COSATU says that the grant’s administrative issues must be resolved in order for all 12 million unemployed persons to have access to it.
The union also states that the beneficiaries of the SRD grant must be linked to skills development programmes and job opportunities to ensure that they start earning their own income and don’t remain unemployed.
